Lewd King's Bucket List

'Now, now… How do I go about making it look like I'm trying!'

Reina's feet struck the stone with a sharp crack as she surged forward, Aether bursting beneath her heels in uneven pulses. Her version of the first steps of Blade Waltz was rough, but it was recognizable to any who once fought alongside her father.

Another confirmation of her heritage.

Ixion stepped forward to meet her, grin wide, eyes bright.

Reina's opening strike came straight for his neck.

Ixion tilted his head just enough for the blade to skim past, close enough that a few strands of his hair drifted free.

"What a strike, Reina! To aim for a king's head, one would almost think you were trying to kill me!"

Reina pivoted, her momentum carrying her into a second strike aimed low. Ixion caught it with the flat of his blade, guiding it away rather than stopping it outright.

Steel met steel in a ringing clash. Ixion making sure to control his force as to not shatter her stance.

He slid back a step, sabatons scraping across the stone. Nearly tripping over rubble kicked of from previous battles.

Reina's eyes narrowed.

'Ah, how observant! Was giving her space too obvious?!'

Fooling those with a tactical mind was incredibly hard! Especially one which knew their own strength.

Reina stepped forward again. Her footwork grew sharper as she adjusted, Aether flaring more consistently now. Left, right, forward. Each step built speed, even if imperfect.

Ixion parried again, then again, each motion just slightly slower than it should have been. Not enough to look weak. Just enough to disabuse the notion of his invulnerability.

Reina drove her blade toward his shoulder.

Ixion twisted, letting the strike graze the edge of his pauldron. The impact rang out, sparks scattering as metal kissed metal. As he jumped away, Ixion honed in on the murmurs of the nobles. His hearing was much too good for even a whisper to escape.

A few low ranking barons and knights were too amazed to even register their usual fears when near Ixion.

"Is the king being pushed back?"

"Is the Artoris girl actually doing it?"

He even heard Marlowe.

"This is better than anything I'd ever expected from her…"

'Good.'

Ixion stepped in this time, forcing a close exchange. Their blades slid against one another, grinding with a harsh screech.

Reina's breath was steady. Controlled.

Better than before.

"You're weak, Artoris girl. No wonder you were left alive."

Reina didn't respond, but her face flushed red with anger and caution fell by the wayside. She shifted her grip and drove her elbow toward his ribs.

Ixion laughed as he caught her arm.

"Now now, dear Shame of Artoris, "

For a moment, their eyes met. Her eyes containing a world of hate and fury, his a sort of twisted amusement.

Reina growled as she tugged, trying to free her arm.

"It seems my words struck a nerve earlier, Your Grace."

Ixion threw Reina away.

"The words of a crestfallen heir who tramples upon everything her family stood for mean nothing to me."

The moment Reina landed, she didn't hesitate. She lunged forward, bringing her blade around in a tight arc aimed at his side.

Ixion lifted his sword to block, but he ever so slightly angled the flat of his blade up. Hitting his armor, something a regular sword wielded by the girl would never be able to pierce, meant nothing. There needed to be blood. His blood.

Reina's blade slammed into Ixion's. As it did, Ixion flicked Reina's strike up toward his face. Then, he made a facetious attempt to dodge the tip of her sword which scraped his cheek.

A thin line of red started flowing from underneath his eye as Reina's follow through allowed Ixion to grab her.

Ixion ripped the sword from Reina's hand and tossed it away as he lifted her by her neck.

"As annoying as you were, this was some good training."

Despite Reina's imminent loss, a collective gasp rippled through the arena.

For the first time that day, Ixion bled. A wound on his face nonetheless.And, the person who had caused the wound was Reina Artoris.

Reina coughed as she tore at Ixion's bracers, trying to free herself. She tried to speak, but Ixion's tight grip wouldn't allow her. But her eyes…

'Was that too obvious?'

It wasn't a look of sheer doubt, but Reina was obviously confused how she managed to land such a blow. Foolish as Ixion may be now, he was once the commander of the strongest force in all of Kaldora. Someone like that wouldn't make such a careless mistake. Sure, he'd fought sixty-seven duels before fighting her, but he still looked in relatively good condition.

Ixion growled as he looked back at Sebastian.

"This duel is over." Then Ixion looked at the unbalanced blade in his hand. "Fetch me a new weapon."

Then, Ixion ever so slightly rattled her soul and knocked her out, then dropped her unconscious body onto the stone below.

The crowd was quiet, but their gazes were filled with ‌defiant‌ hope. Hope which surged like a rising tide. Only a few waiting challengers, high ranking warriors who once fought alongside Ixion, held a little doubt as to how someone weaker than them managed such a feat.

And Marlowe, alongside whoever else was involved in the plot of tampering Ixion's blade, would see that their schemes had an effect. Those who didn't know of the plot, it would seem like Ixion was blaming the blade over himself.

'I'd never do such a thing!'

Ixion was a proud warrior! And a proud warrior was humble in the minor defeats. Because it was those defeats which led to even greater strength!

Ixion touched his cheek, staining the tips of his fingers red with his own blood.

'Regardless of what they believe, this cut will be used — used as the focal point of amassing the people's courage when the time comes.'

Reina was carried off, a couple high-ranking nobles following her, eager to protect their new symbol — Marlowe included. It was time that the shifty snake sank his fangs deep into Reina.

The sixty-ninth challenger stepped forward. It was time to get through the rest of the 113 duels. Some of them which would actually require a little effort.

'I never thought I'd see so many of my past comrades congregated in one place again!'

All with the hope of cutting him down and usurping his throne.

'How ironic…'